Kristi Hutton redesigned a room for her 3-year-old twins. She used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the girls' beds.

Kristi Hutton redesigned a room for her 3-year-old twins. She used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the girls' beds.

Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News

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Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the girls' beds, among other crafty additions.

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the girls' beds, among other crafty additions.

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the girls' beds, among other crafty additions.

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the

Small touches add warmth to a room Hutton redesigned for twins Alex and Avery.

Small touches add warmth to a room Hutton redesigned for twins Alex and Avery.

Photo: Helen L. Montoya, Staff

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Alex and Avery were a big help in redesigning their room, Kristi Hutton says. "They loved every second of it."

Alex and Avery were a big help in redesigning their room, Kristi Hutton says. "They loved every second of it."

Photo: Helen L. Montoya, Staff

Image 8 of 14

Small touches add warmth to a room Hutton redesigned for twins Alex and Avery.

Small touches add warmth to a room Hutton redesigned for twins Alex and Avery.

Photo: Helen L. Montoya, Staff

Image 9 of 14

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the girls' beds, among other crafty additions.

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the girls' beds, among other crafty additions.

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the girls' beds, among other crafty additions.

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the girls' beds, among other crafty additions.

Kristi Hutton recently redesigned the room for her 3-year-old twins, Alex and Avery. Hutton repainted an armoire she bought off craigslist and used a glue gun and fabric to make letters that hang over the

Growing up, Kristi Hutton shared a room with her twin sister. So when she found out she was having twins of her own, Hutton just knew they would share a room, too.

"I don't actually know of any cons," to sharing a room, she says. "My sister and I were always in our own little world, and we just played together constantly."

So after her daughters graduated from cribs to beds, the 35-year-old decided it was time for them to have a "big girl" room. Bye-bye to the green-and-pink nursery next to the master bedroom; hello to the former guest room that she painted robin's egg blue.

The Spring Branch house has enough bedrooms that 3-year-olds Alex and Avery could have had their own rooms, but Hutton didn't think much about it. "Maybe when they're older, if they decide they want their own rooms, we have the setup for that," she says.

While some families don't have that option, sharing a bedroom offers many benefits to a child, says Adele Faber, co-author of "Siblings Without Rivalry" (Perennial Currents, $13.99).

"I think sharing a bedroom could be a wonderful experience," Faber says. "I think there is so much to be learned from that and so much that goes on when you're in the silence of that room, just chatting with each other."

Togetherness isn't without irritations, she acknowledges. But that makes it a learning experience.

Faber recalls how, when her two sons shared a room, one wanted privacy when he had friends over.

"Nobody's going to be able to work it out except the two of you," she told them. "This is a tough one. Go back in there and let me know what you come up with."

The boys didn't come up with a final plan on how to handle the space when guests were over, but they did become more sensitive to the needs of the other. They began asking, "Is it OK if Jimmy comes over today?" Or, "I really need quiet. Can you and Jimmy play outside?"

Siblings who share rooms, says Faber, hone human-relation skills they take out into the world, learning to defend themselves and also learning to compromise.

Because so much compromise is involved, Kelly Scully of Finishing Touches Interior Design likes to interview the kids and involve them in decorating the room, so that each sibling feels ownership of the space.

More Information

SHARING ROOMS

My space,your space

Property of ... : Use a label maker or permanent marker to assign ownership to everything from bathroom drinking cups to storage bins. "Labeling is key to a happy roommate situation," interior designer Kelly Scully says.

Color-code: Use containers and clothes hangers of one color for one child and another for the other child.

Pocket change: Kristi Hutton uses an over-door shoe organizer with see-through pockets to store pairs of tights for her 3-year-old twin daughters. The pockets can hold anything from toy cars to hair accessories.

Keep out: Provide separate dressers or at least drawers. It's important for children to feel like they have things of their own — that although learning to share is important, certain things are off-limits.

"If you listen to them, they have a lot to say," Scully says, citing comments such as "I like dance" and "I don't really like pink; I like blue."

"The room still needs to have a flow of a color palette," she says, but "somebody can even have baseball posters over to the side and someone can have soccer posters."

In Scully's experience, the children sharing the room usually are the same sex, but not always.

Scully's two daughters, now 21 and 24, shared a room and still talk about the older one paying the younger one a penny to clean the room.

"That bond - I don't think you can replace that," Scully says.

The configuration of the room depends on its size. Bunk beds, for example, are wonderful space savers, but the beds are not easy to make amid the morning rush of getting ready for school. "You want it to be easy to make their beds," Scully says.

Another consideration is whether to include décor centering on movie or storybook characters that will be outgrown sooner rather than later.

Choosing a lasting look saves money.

Hutton took that into account when she tackled the daunting task of making a new room for her girls. "They might be in this room the longest," she says.

With the girls finally old enough to occupy themselves while she worked on a project, Hutton repainted in pink a wooden armoire and added pastel polka-dot hardware; she lined the inside with floral print.

She "fell in love" with some large three-dimensional letters in the Pottery Barn catalog and made her own giant "A's" (for Alex and Avery), using colorful fabric and a glue gun. She hung the letters over the twin beds, which had belonged to her twin's 7- and 9-year-old daughters.

Perhaps best of all, Alex and Avery were a big help in painting and decorating their new room, and "they loved every second of it," Hutton says.

Since the girls moved into their new space, it's been smooth sailing - with one notable exception.

At 2 a.m. one particular night, Hutton was awakened by noise and went to investigate.

Her daughters were not in their beds.

They were up - and they were wearing princess dresses, crowns and high-heel dress-up shoes.